Israeli berries kick off

Pictured sampling the first pickings of new variety Youval are left to right John Fox of Agrexco UK, Bob Taylor of Sharrock's in Preston, Mark Woodier of Henshall's in Manchester and Nick Kelly of Redbridge AFI. Fruit started arriving last week and will continue through to Easter. "Youval is a softer strawberry with good brix levels and good shape," explained Fox. "A lot of growers are starting to experiment with it. We are also picking Tamar now and marketing fruit for Palestinians growing in Gaza to the wholesale markets."